Each day, there are snippets of news concerning the ongoing drama that is public life in Liverpool. However, it was still a disturbing surprise to hear that one of those arrested under Operation Aloft had attempted suicide. Happily, it was unsuccessful – I am sure that most people have no wish to hear of such an extreme degree of self-harm, no matter who the individual might be.

Less of a shock was to see that Joe Anderson’s crowd-funding page had raised exactly zero funds as contributions in aid of his action against the city council. You may recall that he sued his former employers – at a cost of over £100,000 to the city’s council taxpayers – in a failed attempt to obtain more money from them. On this occasion, he appears to believe that the council taxpayer should again pay for whatever legal actions he now wishes to take…